


Your love is better than ice cream

by emmerrr



Series: To live will be an awfully big adventure [9]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Valentine's Day, kevin/allison/neil aka the brot3 we all deserve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 08:30:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13655292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmerrr/pseuds/emmerrr
Summary: “Neil, single people who complain about Valentine’s Day are the ones who are the most obnoxious about it when they do actually have someone to celebrate with.”Neil arched an eyebrow. “Speaking from experience?”Allison let out a half-offended, half-amused scoff. “Oh, Neil. It’s cute that you think I’ve ever not had a valentine.”





	Your love is better than ice cream

**Author's Note:**

> this could technically be a very loose sequel to this: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12944868 [part 4 in this series] -- but you really don't need to read that first (although you should if you're a renison shipper!)

Out of all of the Foxes, it was Kevin and Neil who did the most out of hours extra practice. And not just extra practice, but extra cardio, too. Extra generalised workouts.

They were a little relentless about it, and Neil at least could admit this, even if Kevin thought it necessary and that everyone else was slacking. The thing was, it was in Kevin’s blood and getting him to take it easy was still a work in progress. And as for Neil. . . well, his life sort of depended on it.

He took his life very seriously these days. He had a lot to live for.

So he put in the work, even though the only part he got any joy out of was the strictly Exy related stuff. The rest—the weights, the cardio, the fitness—he could take or leave. Unfortunately, leaving it wasn’t really an option.

The cardio wouldn’t bother Neil if it was just running; he liked running, and he was good at it. But there was so much more _to_ it than that if Neil wanted a well-rounded fitness routine.

During her final year at Palmetto, Allison started to join them.

It began as a half dare issued by Kevin; an implication that he was faster, a thinly veiled challenge that Allison couldn’t very well back down from. So she joined them, proved her point, and after that, she kept coming back.

The scouts didn’t just have their eyes on Kevin after all; Allison’s plan was also to go pro.

If it was all work and no play with Kevin, then Allison made it fun, and her integration into their routine became so ingrained so quickly that now Neil couldn’t imagine her not being there. He had already been dreading the girls’ graduation, but even more so now.

A week into February on a Saturday morning, Neil, Kevin, and Allison had just finished their morning workout at the gym. Allison stepped off the Stairmaster, half stumbled towards the large windows and sat down on the floor in the large patch of sunlight that was streaming through, breathing heavily.

“You shouldn’t do that,” Kevin said. “You should cool down before you sit.”

“Kevin,” Allison said with saccharine sweetness, flipping him off with a perfectly manicured middle finger. “Fuck off.”

Kevin rolled his eyes and shrugged then muttered, “Why do I bother?” under his breath.

Neil joined Allison on the floor and passed her his bottle of water. Kevin glared at him. “Et tu, Brute?”

“Et what now?” Neil asked, just to piss Kevin off, which it did. Kevin waved his hand dismissively.

Allison finished drinking her fill and wiped the back of her hand across her mouth. “Can we go for milkshakes?”

Kevin scoffed. “Why?”

“As a treat.”

“What, so you can pile back on all the calories you’ve just burned?”

“Kevin, Kev, my dude, my guy. . . it’s one milkshake. I want a milkshake.”

“No you don’t, you only _think_ you do. I’ll make you a smoothie back at Fox Tower. A healthy one,” Kevin said, crossing his arms.

Allison ignored this entirely and turned to Neil. “Milkshake?”

Neil shrugged easily. “I could go for a milkshake.”

Allison looked up at Kevin triumphantly. “That’s two against one, Kev.”

“Fine then, you two go. I’m not coming.”

Allison’s grin turned into a pout. “Aw, come on, don’t be like that. It’s bonding. It’s like how Andrew and Renee beat the shit out of each other every other Saturday morning and then they go and get waffles.”

Kevin sighed.

“You don’t have to be unhealthy,” Allison reasoned, sensing Kevin’s resolve wavering. “You can be boring and have juice. Or water. I'll let you give me a rundown of Trojan stats if you come.”

“As vice-captain,” Neil cut in, “I can pull rank over you. And I think you should come.”

The look on Kevin’s face was pained, but he couldn’t technically disagree.

“It’s for the good of the team, Kevin,” Neil continued.

“Fine!” Kevin threw his hands up in defeat. “But I’m not having a milkshake.”

***

Half an hour later, the three of them were showered and dressed and they ambled back to Fox Tower to drop off their gym stuff.

Allison’s Porsche was notably missing from the car park which meant that Renee had taken it to drive her and Andrew to their waffles date. So it was Neil who drove them in the Maserati, and Allison called shotgun, much to Kevin’s chagrin.

“No, no, that’s not fair, I _always_ get shotgun.”

“Except when you don’t,” Allison said gleefully.

Kevin looked to Neil imploringly.

“She called it, Kevin. Fair and square,” Neil said firmly. Allison poked her tongue out at Kevin and he scowled foully before slamming into the back seat. Neil had discovered that whilst spending time with Allison and Kevin he often fell into the roll of a referee, caught between two people who always wanted to get their own way. He didn’t mind too much as on the whole Kevin and Allison got on considerably better than they had done just a few months earlier; friends thanks to prolonged exposure and a mutual respect for each other as athletes who took their craft seriously. Most of their little arguments were posturing more than anything else.

When they arrived, Allison complained that her legs hurt after the morning’s activities, and she goaded Kevin into giving her a piggyback ride across the car park. He huffed about it, but he still relented easily enough, and Neil smiled into the collar of his jacket.

Once at the entrance, Kevin dropped Allison rather unceremoniously and she had to scramble to remain standing (" _Hey!_ I’m wearing _heels!”)_ , and he then proceeded to hold up the line at the counter as he struggled to choose between two equally bland and boring looking ‘healthy option’ muffins. Neil, for his part, played it simple with a vanilla milkshake and a giant chocolate chip cookie.

Neil got his order first and hunted down a booth in the back corner. As he slid into the seat his phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out to check his message.

It was from Andrew, the contents simply:

**\- ?**

It was a very Andrew way of asking where he was in the briefest possible way, and Neil typed out a reply.

_\- with allison and kevin getting milkshakes. won’t be long_

The reply chimed through just as Allison and Kevin piled into the seating opposite Neil.

**\- bring me one**

Neil smiled and put his phone away, then looked up.

“What,” he asked Allison, pointing at the concoction before her, “is _that?”_

“Doesn’t it look great?” she said. “It’s their Valentine’s special, for this week only. After the 14th they won’t do ‘em anymore, so I have to make the most of it.”

Kevin was eyeing the pink monstrosity with no small amount of disgust. “What the hell is _in_ that?”

“Fuck knows,” Allison said brightly. “But it’s _pink_.”

It certainly was pink, and more in a bubblegum sort of way than a perhaps more acceptable strawberry kind of way, and there were dark flecks inside the glass that Neil thought probably came from crushed up oreos. On the top was a generous mound of whipped cream, a glacé cherry, and a liberal handful of multi-coloured sprinkles.

Just breathing near it was probably enough to give yourself a cavity.

Allison took a giant slurp through her straw. “Oh my god, that’s _amazing_ ,” she said, then held it up to Kevin’s face. “Try it, Kev.”

He reared back. “You get that shit away from me.”

Allison cackled. “Okay, okay. You enjoy your bran muffin, Grandpa.”

“I _will_.”

Allison turned to Neil, a gleam in her eye. “But anyway, while we’re on the subject. . .” She trailed off and looked at Neil expectantly.

“. . . What subject?”

She rolled her eyes mightily. “Valentine’s Day, obviously.”

“Were we on the subject?” Neil asked wearily, sensing where this was going.

Allison gestured airily towards her valentine’s themed milkshake. “A connection could be made. My _point_ is, this is your first Valentine’s Day with the monster, right?”

“Allison,” Neil warned, an edge to his tone.

“Shit, sorry,” Allison said, wincing. Referring to Andrew as ‘the monster’ was still a habit Allison hadn’t quite broken. She was considerably better about it now, but she still slipped occasionally. “With Andrew.”

Neil thought about it. A year earlier he and Andrew had only recently started up their _this_ , so while technically speaking it would be their second Valentine’s Day together, Neil could see Allison’s point. They definitely hadn’t marked the occasion last year.

“I guess,” he said with a shrug.

“So. . .” Allison prompted. “What are you going to do for it?”

Another shrug. “Nothing?”

“Come on, Neil.”

“It’s not really our thing, though, is it? I don’t really see the point in it.”

“There _is_ no point in it,” Kevin interjected.

“Oh, so you’re telling me you don’t have any plans with Thea?” Allison said scornfully.

“Of course I do, but it’s still a bullshit day.”

“Okay, sure, it _is_ dumb,” Allison allowed. “But it has its perks.”

“Well yeah, obviously,” Kevin said.

“What are you doing with Thea, then?” Neil asked.

“I’m taking her to dinner and then we’re going to an Exy game. I have tickets.”

Allison burst out laughing and draped her arm around Kevin, leaning her head against his shoulder. “Ohhh, Kevin, you are _so_ consistent.”

“What?” Kevin said, a little self-consciously. “Thea _likes_ Exy. It was her idea.”

“Take it easy, I’m not making fun,” Allison said. “It’s cute, honestly.”

Kevin side-eyed Allison, but then he looked at Neil and tilted his head to the side like he was thinking. In the voice he usually used when he was dropping his considerable history knowledge, he said, “The thing about Valentine’s Day is it’s sort of a trap. Everyone— _everyone_ —knows that it’s just a marketing ploy and an excuse for businesses to bring out overpriced holiday specials and fancy menus at restaurants and expensive cards and flower bouquets and candy and all of that crap. You’re all playing into a larger capitalist machine and it’s not even subtle, everyone knows. _But—_ " he held his hands up like they were weighing scales, "—it’s also the kind of thing where you look like a dick if you _don’t_ acknowledge it. If you’re in a relationship and you ignore it entirely just to make a point, that’s kind of just, a douchebag move.”

Allison raised her eyebrows but she looked mildly impressed when Kevin finished his explanation. Then she fixed Neil with a small smile. “Yeah, that,” she said. “Pretty much that.”

“But then again,” Kevin said, considering, “I don’t really think any of that applies to you and Andrew.”

“Noooo, Kevin, sure it does!” Allison exclaimed. “Look, Neil, what Kevin and Thea are doing is actually a really good example. Just because it’s Valentine’s Day it doesn’t mean you have to do all the stereotypically valentiney stuff. You don’t have to do flowers or chocolate or go for a meal. Kevin and Thea are Exy nerds, so they’re having a night out at an Exy game. Whatever you do, you can tailor it to you and Andrew. It can be fun, if you let it.”

Neil opened his mouth to respond, but he didn’t know what to say so he closed it again. Then he sighed. “He’s not going to care. He’s not going to get me anything, and he won’t expect anything from me. I doubt he’d appreciate the gesture.”

“Maybe,” Allison said. “But what if he _does_ get you something?”

Neil smiled wryly. “He won’t.” When Allison looked like she wanted to argue, Neil spoke up again. “Look, I see what you’re getting at, and I appreciate it, sort of. But it’s not really any of your business. And besides, isn’t Valentine’s Day just the kind of thing that couples shove in the faces of single people?”

Allison’s eyes gleamed. “That’s the _beauty_ of it,” she said. Kevin snorted. “Neil, single people who complain about Valentine’s Day are the ones who are the most obnoxious about it when they do actually have someone to celebrate with.”

Neil arched an eyebrow. “Speaking from experience?”

Allison let out a half-offended, half-amused scoff. “Oh, _Neil_. It’s cute that you think I’ve ever not had a valentine.”

Neil grinned and shook his head.

“Oh, did you hear?” Allison said suddenly, clearly just remembering something. “The baby Foxes, because they are all woefully single, are having like a lonely hearts party down in the Fox Tower basement on Valentine’s night.”

“Are they actually calling it a lonely hearts party, or is that just what _you’ve_ dubbed it?” Kevin said.

Allison smirked. “I may have used some creative license there. But _still_. Tragic, right?”

“Allison Reynolds, you are _mean_ ,” Neil said.

“Coming from you, that doesn’t sting as much as it should.”

“ _Hey_ , I’m plenty nice,” Neil protested.

“Yeah, no, that’s not true,” Kevin said.

“Fuck you guys,” Neil said, but it lacked any heat through his barely checked laughter.

Luckily, it proved a distraction from all the valentine talk as they took to playfully insulting each other while they finished their food and drinks. Neil told the others he’d meet them by the car while he went back up to the counter to get Andrew a milkshake to go. He settled on a chocolaty cookie’s and cream kind of thing, then hurried back outside.

Next to the Maserati, Allison had Kevin in a playful headlock. They were arguing over who got to sit up front again.

Neil unlocked the car and said, “I’m not getting involved, but whoever sits shotgun has to hold Andrew’s milkshake and not spill a drop.”

Allison released Kevin. “On second thought, it’s your turn,” she said, and hastily piled in the backseat.

***

Allison didn’t bring up Valentine’s Day with Neil again, but she’d got into his head and now Neil kept thinking about it.

He knew with a bone-deep certainty that he had been right before; Andrew really couldn’t care less about it. He hadn’t even mentioned it at all, even though there was evidence of it all over campus advertising various themed parties going on around the university. You couldn’t escape it; even Eden’s Twilight was having themed cocktails to mark the occasion. Andrew undoubtedly knew the apparent significance of the date in general. The difference was, Neil supposed, that it didn’t hold any significance for _them_.

Neil was annoyed that he’d managed to get caught up in all of it. He knew that in all likelihood Allison had only brought it up in the first place because she—along with most of the Foxes to be honest—was curious about Andrew and Neil’s relationship. They didn’t really fit into any of the stereotypical relationship ‘boxes’ so other people didn’t really seem to get how they worked.

Most of the time it didn’t really bother Neil. He didn’t have any other meaningful romantic relationships to compare it to, and so to him it was entirely normal. It was the only normal he _knew_.

He understood, in an abstract sort of way, that the progression of him and Andrew was far from the norm. They both had more than their fair share of personal trauma, and as a result they were both so, _so_ careful with each other. They were quiet about their relationship, keeping it close to their chests, taking each tentative step far from prying eyes.

Neil liked it this way. He liked that it was his and Andrew’s, and theirs alone. It wasn’t for public consumption, and whatever their friends saw between them was only a fraction of what was actually there.

So Neil recognised that his friends may never truly _understand_ , but as long as they at least accepted it and weren’t intrusive, Neil was okay with it. He didn’t feel the need to jump through all the various relationship hoops. Forcing Valentine’s Day to be a thing they had to honour felt disingenuous to Neil, and he didn’t want to think about it anymore.

February 14th would just be another day, same as always.

Once Neil had come to this conclusion, he thought it would have been the end of it. However, on Thursday—two days before Valentine’s Day—Nicky cornered him after practice.

“Hey, Neil. What do you have planned on Saturday?”

“Nothing,” Neil said curtly, already resigning himself to another lecture. He distantly wondered if anyone had approached _Andrew_ about the whole thing. “Why?”

Nicky sighed. “It’s just that if you were going out or anything, I was wondering if I could stop over in your suite for the night? I want to Skype with Erik, but Matt’s already called our suite for whatever straight nonsense him and Dan will be getting up to. Allison and Renee’ll be in the girls’ room, Aaron’s with Katelyn for the weekend and I know Kevin’s out of town for the night, so I just thought. . .” He trailed off.

“Of course you can,” Neil said with a frown. “But why would me and Andrew have to be going out? There’s room for you with Kevin gone. And even if he _was_ there, we have a sofa you can sleep on.”

“Neil.” Nicky looked at him pityingly. “I want to Skype with my boyfriend. On Valentine’s Day. I’d rather not have an audience, if you catch my drift?” He waggled his eyebrows salaciously.

“Oh,” Neil said. “ _Oh_. Right. Gotcha.”

“But if you were staying in, it’s cool, I’ll figure something else out.”

Nicky turned to go, a forlorn expression on his face. “Nicky, wait,” Neil said. Allison’s words came back to Neil— _Whatever you do, you can tailor it to you and Andrew_ —and he thought he had a solution, both for himself and for Nicky.

What Andrew would most want was probably just to get the fuck away from everyone else.

Nicky had stopped and turned back around and was now watching Neil with wide, hopeful eyes.

“Actually, me and Andrew will be in Columbia for the night on Saturday, so the suite’s yours.”

Nicky beamed. “Really?”

Neil nodded; Andrew wouldn’t take much convincing. “Really.”

***

Neil didn’t broach the Columbia idea with Andrew until the following day.

Andrew was sitting on his desk, smoking out of the window. The sun was shining through and setting his hair alight, and Neil—because he just couldn’t help himself—stared for a moment. Andrew turned slightly to acknowledge Neil’s presence, and then jerked his head in invitation.

Neil padded over and perched on the desk just behind Andrew. He hooked his chin over Andrew’s shoulder, breathing in the smell of the smoke.

“Nicky’s stopping in here tomorrow night, ‘cause Matt’s commandeering their suite,” he said. He felt rather than heard Andrew’s answering hum; it reverberated through him. “Can we go to Columbia? Just you and me?”

Andrew half turned his face, his cheek brushing the tip of Neil’s nose. “Why?” he asked.

“It’s gonna be a mad house around here. And also Nicky’s definitely going to have Skype sex with Erik and I’d rather not be a witness.”

Andrew was quiet while he mulled this over, then he merely said, “Okay,” and shrugged.

Neil nuzzled into Andrew’s neck as a thank you, just to feel the shiver. Andrew didn’t disappoint, but he shot Neil a look and muttered, “You and your neck fetish.”

Neil laughed and pulled away. “Pretty sure that’s _your_ neck fetish.”

***

The next morning, Neil borrowed Matt’s ice-box then went to the store and bought several cartons of ice cream. He chose all of Andrew’s favourites, plus a couple of sickeningly sweet looking flavours he didn’t think Andrew had tried yet.

He also got Nicky to pick him up a six-pack of beer. Anything else they needed they could get in Columbia. Neil hadn’t made any plans and didn’t know what Andrew would want to do for food, so he left it as a decision to be made later.

They hopped in the car in the early afternoon, Andrew in the drivers’ seat. Neil sent Wymack a cursory text to say he and Andrew were going out of town, but that they’d be back tomorrow. Wymack never minded when his Foxes went away for the night; he just liked to know where they were. Neil found it incredibly comforting.

Once he’d received Wymack’s perfunctory reply, Neil put his phone in his pocket and shifted in his seat so he was facing Andrew.

Andrew’s eyes were on the road ahead, his brow slightly crinkled as he squinted in the low winter sun. The music playing on the CD-player was quieter than what Andrew normally had blasting through the Maserati’s speakers when the car had other occupants. It was always quieter, softer, when it was just Andrew and Neil in the car. Neil had noticed this but never mentioned it, partly because it was obvious and didn’t need to be said, and partly because Andrew was a stubborn ass when he wanted to be and bringing it up might make it stop.

Neil didn’t _want_ it to stop.

He yawned, and Andrew’s gaze flitted to him and then back to the road. “Tired?” he asked.

“Mm. A little,” Neil said. The car’s heat partnered with the soothing music and Andrew’s quiet company, and the fact that Neil just felt so _safe_ had made him unwittingly sleepy.

“So sleep,” Andrew said.

Neil shook his head. “That’s not fair to you,” he said. “I want to keep you company.”

Andrew’s eye-roll was so subtle that Neil almost missed it. “You’re keeping me company just be being here, dumbass.” He reached across the middle console and put his hand on Neil’s thigh, gently squeezing. “Sleep.”

Neil closed his eyes and that was all it took. The next thing he registered was Andrew saying his name, and he blinked back into awareness.

“We here?” he asked blearily.

“Yup,” Andrew replied, getting out of the car. Neil quickly followed and joined Andrew at the trunk. He grabbed the ice-box before Andrew could and then went ahead of him into the house, using his own key to let them in.

Andrew found him in the kitchen a moment later, transporting the ice cream from the ice-box to the freezer, and the six-pack to the fridge.

“That’s a lot of ice cream,” Andrew mused, leaning in the kitchen doorway.

“They’re for you,” Neil said, and he inexplicably felt embarrassed and blushed. It was only ice cream; he felt ridiculous—he’d bought Andrew ice cream before. Fucking Allison and her fucking valentines talk. “I got them for you.”

Andrew nodded. “I figured,” he said, and then he disappeared again. Neil heard his footsteps go up the stairs and figured Andrew was dropping off the duffel bag in his bedroom. ( _Their_ bedroom.)

Once Neil had finished, he tucked the ice-box out of the way then went to the living room and sat down on the sofa. Andrew joined him a couple of minutes later, sitting with his back against the armrest. He draped his legs over Neil’s, and Neil rested his hands on Andrew’s shins automatically.

For a moment, there was nothing but silence. It wasn’t entirely comfortable, because Neil knew he was being scrutinised.

“Neil,” Andrew said at last. “Do you know what day it is?”

Neil nodded mutely.

“Is that what this is about?”

Neil shrugged. “Sort of? But also not really.”

“What do you mean?”

Neil waited while he gathered his thoughts, rubbing his thumb in an absent circle on Andrew’s leg as he tried to find the words. He stared at a fixed point on Andrew’s knee, but could feel Andrew’s gaze on his own face when he finally spoke.

“I mean that I don’t care about. . . about Valentine’s Day, and I know you don’t either. But Allison was asking me about it, and they’re all getting so carried away about it that it just, it got inside my head. And then when Nicky asked if he could use our suite just so he could have a little privacy to talk to his boyfriend on _this_ particular day, it just made me think.” He looked at Andrew at last, hazel eyes calm on his own. “If all Valentine’s Day is really about is doing something nice for someone important to you, then I can get on board with that. So I thought drives, and ice cream, and getting away from everyone else for a little while.” He smiled. “But then again, this is just as much a gift for me as it is for you, so it’s not entirely unselfish.”

Andrew stared back at Neil, expression utterly inscrutable, but then he gazed heavenward and sighed. He reached into his hoodie pocket and pulled something very orange out of it. He tossed it to Neil. “Here.”

Neil curiously picked it up and saw that it was a beanie; a fox beanie, with little ears and everything. Neil couldn’t help the smile that spread over his face. He pointed to his chest. “For me?”

“ _Yes,_ Neil.”

“Is this a Valentine’s gift?”

Another long, drawn out sigh. “I didn’t get it because of _Valentine’s Day_.” Andrew forced derision into his voice at the words. “I got it because it reminded me of you.”

Neil was still grinning. “But you gave it to me _today_. When did you buy it?”

Andrew looked away, pulling at a loose thread on the sofa cushion. “A few days ago.”

It absolutely meant that Andrew had waited until today, specifically, to give it to Neil. Which didn’t necessarily make all that much sense.

“Why?” Neil needed to know. It seemed important.

Andrew finally met Neil’s eyes again. “Kevin might have mentioned something after your milkshake trip last week. He knows how introspective you can get and had a feeling Allison, and maybe himself, might have inadvertently unsettled you.”

Something warmed Neil at the thought. He was so wrapped up in Andrew that he forgot, sometimes, how well Kevin actually knew him. He liked the idea of Kevin risking Andrew’s ire out of concern for Neil. It was thoughtful, because Kevin _could_ be thoughtful, when he wanted to be.

“He was right, I see,” Andrew said when Neil took too long to respond. “But I could tell anyway. You’ve been weird all week.”

“Sorry,” Neil said sheepishly.

Andrew shifted closer, so he was almost sitting on top of Neil. He took the beanie from him. “Don’t apologise.” He pulled the beanie down over Neil’s head and shifted it until he was satisfied. When his hands stilled, the corner of his mouth quirked up, ever so slightly.

“Does it suit me?” Neil asked.

“You look ridiculous,” Andrew said, then kissed him.

An indeterminable amount of time later, when Neil’s thoughts were little more than a pleasant hum, Andrew sat back.

“I’m only going to say this once,” he said. “You do nice things for me every day, so it stands to reason that sometimes this will coincide with February the 14th. If the nice things we do on that day are somehow bigger than they are on other days, so be it. It doesn’t have to be a big deal, and there doesn’t have to be a conversation about it, and we don't have to concern ourselves with what everyone else is doing.” He put a hand on the back of Neil’s neck, and his fingertips brushed at Neil’s skin. “I didn’t get you a card.”

Neil laughed. “I didn’t get you one either,” he said. He leaned over and cupped Andrew’s face, kissing his cheek, his jaw, and then his neck. “Hey. Happy Valen—”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” Andrew interrupted, then kissed away Neil’s helpless giggles.

Allison had been right. Valentine’s Day had its perks.

***

Neil and Andrew remained wrapped up in their own private little Columbia bubble for a little over twenty-four hours, but eventually they had to leave. They packed up what was left of the ice cream and drove back to campus, fingers intertwined almost the entire way.

By the time they got back it was quiet around Fox Tower, and they rode the elevator hand in hand. As they walked down the corridor towards their suite, Allison stepped out of the girls’ room. Andrew let go of Neil’s hand to get the door open, and went in ahead of him.

Allison shot Neil a knowing grin. “Enjoy your weekend with your _valentine?”_ she asked innocently. Like butter wouldn’t melt.

Neil still had enough residual comfort and gooey feelings inside that he knew his face gave him away, and he had indeed had a very, _very_ nice weekend.

“Not one word, Allison,” he said cheerfully, and followed Andrew inside.

But because she could never help herself, Allison's parting words sounded just before the door closed.

"Nice hat, Josten!"

 

**Author's Note:**

> *title taken from the song ice cream by sarah mclachlan because it seemed fitting.
> 
> this is wayyy longer than it needs to be, partly because i love allison and kevin and i want them to be friends. (also, don't yell at me, but there is a teeny tiny goblin that lives in my heart and it ships them. renison 5ever obviously, but still).
> 
> anyway i hope you enjoyed this valentine's nonsense. it's hard to imagine andreil on valentine's day because i really really don't think they'd give a shit, so i don't know how in character it is, but that's the beauty of fanfic, i can do whatever i want :)


End file.
